WATCH: CCTV camera captures rising crime at IGA

THE prices are known to be cheap at Drake's IGA Glenmore, but a recent rise in five-finger discounts is leaving store manager Scott Perel severely out of pocket.

From raw meat to make-up, Mr Perel said thieves were stealing whatever they could get their hands on.

Mr Perel spoke out following a report in The Morning Bulletin's Saturday edition about the theft of a charity tin from Food Sing Trading in Richardson Rd.

CCTV footage: An alleged offender enters Drake's IGA Glenmore.

"We are definitely seeing a significant increase in shoplifting and people are getting more cunning and are showing no remorse for their actions; it is like shoplifting is not an offence anymore," Mr Perel said.

"It seems to be increasingly getting worse in the last few weeks.

"We've had a loss prevention officer occasionally walking around the store undercover for a year or so but lately, with the frequency of stealing, she's here all the time.

"In the last month we have handed up to 20 people to the police for stealing. And we wouldn't catch even half of the people who steal from the store."

Mr Perel said the Glenmore IGA had been targeted by thieves four times in the past week.

"On Wednesday about 6.30pm we had an elderly man and woman enter the store and fill a basket full of groceries," he said.

"After that he walked towards the front end entry gates and slid the basket underneath and then walked around through a register like he was purchasing nothing and retrieved the basket on the other side and ran off into the car park.

"While he was doing this, his accomplice was in our health and beauty aisle putting items down her top. Our staff were alerted by other customers but by the time we were able to react they were far gone with stock worth about $150.

"On Friday about 1.20pm, a middle-aged lady entered the store and filled her large bag full of about $50 worth of stock. She then ran straight through a register without presenting her bag and into the car park.

"Little did she know though that our undercover loss prevention officer was following her and was able to stop her in the car park and retrieve the items.

"The lady became extremely aggressive and would not wait for the police.

"We had two girls come in and fill a handbag with various raw meats at 12.50pm on Saturday. Our loss prevention officer followed and tried to stop them but they became really aggressive and sped off in a gold Mercedes with about $50 worth of meat.

"Yesterday the police pulled over a man and saw he had a bag full of stolen stock from the store and that was retrieved."

Mr Perel said stealing incidents were happening so often, the police visited the store nearly every day.

"Every shift we have our loss prevention officer here she is catching one to two people stealing - and it's not just young people.

"Recently we had an 85-year-old man try and steal groceries and his excuse was that he just didn't have any money," Mr Perel said.

FED UP: IGA Glenmore store manager Scott Perel has seen a rise in shoplifting at the store in recent months.Chris Ison Rokctheft

"I think to an extent it is the economy at the moment that is causing it but really, people just don't care anymore. They don't understand that it is morally wrong to steal and they don't care that it is illegal.

"We're losing up to $1000 per week in stolen stock. The police are here so frequently now it's becoming ridiculous. Sometimes the offenders become really aggressive and threaten violence so we just have to let them go."

If you can identify anyone in these images or from the CCTV footage of the incidents on The Morning Bulletin website, contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Rockhampton police.

Criminal offences include shoplifting - taking goods from a store without paying, eating or drinking something in a shop without paying, swapping, removing or altering price tags to get a lower price for an item, or leaving a restaurant or hotel without paying.

If the value of goods stolen is less than $150, shoplifting falls under the Regulatory Offences Act 1985 and carries a fine of six penalty units ($683.10).

If the value of the goods stolen from a store is more than $150, you can be charged with the more serious offence of stealing (or fraud if you leave a hotel or restaurant without paying a bill greater than $150), which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.